Binge drinking cost the U.S. nearly $224 billion in 2006, and more than a tenth of that total was attributable to healthcare expenses, CDC researchers said.

Binge drinking cost the U.S. nearly $224 billion in 2006, and more than a tenth of that total was attributable to healthcare expenses, CDC researchers said.

Most of the costs of excessive alcohol consumption -- that's four or more drinks at the same sitting for women; five or more for men -- were tied to lost workplace productivity (72.2%), Robert Brewer, MD, MPH, of the CDC, and colleagues reported in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Yet 11% of total costs, or nearly $25 billion, were linked to healthcare expenditures, they found.

Most of that figure, 43.4%, was because of specialty treatment for alcohol abuse and dependence. Another 20.8% was attributable to hospitalizations for other conditions due to excessive drinking.

Criminal justice expenses accounted for 9% of the $223.5 billion, and 7.5% of the total came from other effects including motor vehicle crashes, they reported.

"This research captures the reality that binge drinking means binge spending," Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, director of the CDC, said in a statement.

The data came from three sources: The Alcohol-Related Disease Impact Application, the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol-Related Conditions, and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.